


The Stain Will Remain For the Rest of their Days

by SycoraxSebastian



Category: Macbeth - Shakespeare
Genre: Gen, Hello I'm a huge Shakespeare nerd I'm sorry, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Lady Macbeth would totally take over hell though, Macbeth - Freeform, Macbeth is a poor misunderstood little cinnamon roll, Meta, Not really but I love him, musings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 02:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4245813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SycoraxSebastian/pseuds/SycoraxSebastian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Devil merely smiled, and that was where he went wrong. No weakness should be shown in the presence of a woman like Lady Macbeth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Stain Will Remain For the Rest of their Days

When Lady Macduff got to heaven, she looked around at her room and said "The wallpaper needs changing." When her son asked her when would Papa be joining them, she didn't have the heart to tell him that where his father was going, he'd be lucky if he even remembered he had a wife, let alone children. Instead, she merely hummed him a lullaby and resigned herself to that fact that her son would never grow up. 

When Lady Macbeth got to hell, she looked around at the leaping flames and asked if anyone could turn up the heat because she was freezing. The Devil merely smiled, mouth full of shards of broken glass, with icy stars in his eyes, and told her to get used to the temperature. She blinked, startled for the first time, surprised that her mirror was talking back to her. She recovered quickly, curtsied to Satan and told him not to get too comfortable on his big old throne. A week later, Lady Macbeth had overthrown the Devil himself and was ruling hell the way she liked it. She had messed up her first coup, but a lady never makes the same mistake twice. After all, she wanted to get this usurping thing right at least once, and now it really mattered.

When Macbeth got to heaven, he looked around as if he were lost. He asked for directions back home, surely he wasn't meant to be here, but he was met with indulgent, but patronizing smiles and the tight lipped statement that "Surely sir would prefer to stay here? It gets awfully hot in our lower quarters." He accepted this fate without complaint, and was tortured more completely by his utter lack of consequences for his actions than he ever would have been had he gotten a berth in hell. After all, he had murdered and stolen and lied and died unabsolved... of course, when faced with a lack of punishment on the celestial side of things, Macbeth merely took up the reins and remorse swallowed him whole. The gods laughed when they saw his plight and Lady Macbeth won the bet.

When Macduff got to hell, he looked up at Lady Macbeth and shuddered. He was not much older than he had been when he killed Macbeth and his wrists bore the gaping wounds of his own grief and punishment for performing his filial and patriotic duty. When all's said and done, Macduff's conscience could not bear the weight of his family's, Macbeth’s and the infinite more lives he'd have to take in his country's name. He was never a warrior. His heart was too good and his mind too trusting to succeed. And still, he sinned. More than Macbeth, more than Lady Macbeth and far more than an innocent man should. He was punished for his trust and his negligence.

After all, the fires burn brighter for liars like him.


End file.
